Running Books: Memoirs & History

Insights into individual runners and cultures that support running.

Updated September 27, 2023
Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium Scotch Plains Public Library
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Choosing to run : a memoir
Linden, Des
Paper Book
Choosing to Run takes readers through both the triumphs and greatest challenges of Des Linden's career, including the day that, despite freezing rain and gusting winds, she experienced her career-defining win at the 2018 Boston Marathon. She discusses her unique journey, and how she got there...
The incomplete book of running
Sagal, Peter
Paper Book
"Sagal has created a new genre--the five-minute-mile memoir. Combining commentary and reflection about running with a deeply felt personal story, this book is winning, smart, honest, and affecting. Whether you are a runner or not, it will move you." --Susan Orlean In the...
Let your mind run : a memoir of thinking my way to victory
Kastor, Deena
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ."Deena Kastor is one of the greatest bodies in distance running, but this book captures what is so groundbreaking about her mind."-Alexi Pappas, Olympian, writer, and filmmaker "Inspiring, fascinating, and insightful. Practical for anyone...
The perfect mile : three athletes, one goal, and less than four minutes to achieve it
Bascomb, Neal.
Paper Book
There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be entirely beyond the limits of human foot speed. And in all of sport it was the elusive holy grail. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners set out individually to break this...
Running while Black : finding freedom in a sport that wasn't built for us
Désir, Alison Mariella
Paper Book
Running saved Alison Desir's life. At rock bottom and searching for meaning and structure, Desir started marathon training, finding that it vastly improved both her physical and mental health. Yet as she became involved in the community and learned its history, she realized that the sport was...
Running with the Kenyans : passion, adventure, and the secrets of the fastest people on earth
Finn, Adharanand.
Paper Book
"A dusty road stretches into the distance like a pencil line across the arid landscape. Lions, rhino, and buffalo roam the plains on either side. But I haven't come to Kenya to spot wildlife. I've come to run."   Whether running is your recreation, your religion, or just a...

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